John Kenyon – Nonprofit Technology Educator & Strategisthttp://johnkenyon.org
Nonprofit Technology consulting, training and writing about appropriate, effective solutions.Thu, 15 Nov 2018 20:20:50 +0000en-UShourly1100811245The Next Wave of Technology for Nonprofitshttp://johnkenyon.org/the-next-wave-of-technology-for-nonprofits/
http://johnkenyon.org/the-next-wave-of-technology-for-nonprofits/#respondTue, 23 Oct 2018 06:31:16 +0000http://johnkenyon.org/?p=621Read more »]]>Marnie Webb, CEO at Caravan Studios recently asked nonprofit tech folks via Twitter “I’m giving a talk on the next wave of technology for NGOs. What groups of technology would you include? And why?”. I think Marnie was asking more about tools or technologies, like Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning. It made me think of the next wave of nonprofit’s behaviors in relation to technology. Behaviors that I think and hope will start to change as the Next Wave of Technology for Nonprofits.

SafeChat SIlicon Valley is the first collaboratively managed online peer counseling chat service in the United States for those impacted by domestic violence or intimate partner abuse. The SafeChat Silicon Valley Domestic Violence Collaborative, made up of four nonprofits who provide services in the San Jose, California area, launched this online chat service in August 2016, successfully completing its two-year pilot phase in August 2018. The service was planned, designed, implemented and is now maintained as a joint effort.

Providing digital services in a networked way, working in collaboration to do together what cannot be done alone, is the natural evolution of technology use in nonprofits.

I know dozens of nonprofits whose systems have been hacked or networks compromised, costing them thousands of dollars. When I ask them to share their case study to help others avoid the same fate, they refuse. Worried about how they will look as leaders or what the public relations issues might be, they refuse to share. Some have about minor incidents but like an iceberg, the visible is dwarfed by the invisible.

Think what the cost would be to replace every piece of computer hardware in your organization, including any internet related hardware, servers, even printers and tablets. For a small organization of under 10 people, lets say $15,000. Add to the the cost for someone to investigate the problem, help fix it and set up all that new equipment including emails and websites, etc.- easily $25,000 because it will be an emergency response call. Plus the two weeks of lost productivity and stress for the staff as they clamor to try to work with no computers and no past emails and no access to digital files, at least another $10,000. Add in the cost of the cybersecurity insurance your board is likely to insist you purchase to avoid such a catastrophic unexpected outlay of money. You are lucky if you get away without spending more than $50 – $60,000.

As the scale of nonprofit losses from hacking becomes clear, #cybersecurity finally gets the attention & funding it needs

Reach and Usefulness of Social Media Plateaus

Now that the hype and the newness of social media is wearing off, the reality is setting in. Some people use social media and many do not. Many tried it and have stopped using or use it less and less. Facebook lying about its numbers, video views and sharing users personal data are turning people off.

While Pew Internet research shows 69% of adults in the US use at least one social media site, LinkedIn and Twitter haven’t been able to get more than 25% of U.S. adults to use the service (see report linked below). There also remains a generational difference, with only 37% of people over 65 using at least one social media site. While some services like Instagram have seen growth (mainly among adults under 30), Facebook is doing its best to ruin that as an enjoyable space and from what I hear they will soon succeed.

Social media will continue to be around and be one avenue for communication online, but others like text based services and new tools will continue to develop. Behaviors and communications that are too “social media-centric” will need to change.

Owned spaces – good old websites -delivering client centered digital experiences you control – will become more the norm as the best place for your content to live and to provide services. Providing information and services through your online “house” on land you own, not on rented land, as is the case with social media.

–

I don’t have a crystal ball and I’m limited by the information I can access and my experiences. From where I sit now, I can see – and hope – that these waves of new behaviors are coming for nonprofits and technology.

]]>http://johnkenyon.org/the-next-wave-of-technology-for-nonprofits/feed/0621Get the Inside Scoop on What Topics Interest Your NonProfit Website Visitorshttp://johnkenyon.org/get-the-inside-scoop-on-what-topics-interest-your-nonprofit-website-visitors/
http://johnkenyon.org/get-the-inside-scoop-on-what-topics-interest-your-nonprofit-website-visitors/#respondMon, 17 Sep 2018 16:52:31 +0000http://johnkenyon.org/?p=608Read more »]]>Google Analytics has a section called Affinity Categories. Based on the websites that people visit before and after they visit your website, along with other information Google collects, Google Analytics categorizes the kinds of content that interest your website visitors. Here is an example from one of my nonprofit client’s websites.

What does the data show?

In the example to the right, taken from 2018 data, you can see the top five categories that Google assigns to the visitors of this website. They list category and a subcategory. For this nonprofit, the top category is a Media & Entertainment category – Book Lovers. So what does it tell us if our website visitors are book lovers? How might this knowledge help guide us in the types of content we produce?

It just so happens that a few months before reviewing this data, this nonprofit had posted a “Summer Reading List” post that was one of the most popular pieces of content in their enewsletter and on the website. If you find that this category is popular with your website visitors, consider doing something similar with staff reading suggestions.

What might we infer based on the categories?

We might guess that the Book Lover category points to those people in our online community who are well educated, literate and love books. A quick online search helped us find the answer to the logical follow-up question – Who loves and buys books?

A study from Bowker Market Research in 2013 showed that the majority of book buyers are female. We can infer that a majority of those Book Lovers visiting our website are women, and if we look at the Demographics section of Analytics, we see that is accurate. So we have an insight into our online community that the biggest group is people who identify as female, many of whom are book lovers.

We could look and see what the top selling books are in our country. Do any of them relate to our mission? Have our staff read any of them and could relate to our community the connections they observed to your mission or program work?

Category number two is not just about Food & Dining, but the subcategory of Cooking Enthusiasts and 30 Minutes Chefs. This might point to working parents who are looking for quick meal ideas. Do any of our programs involve serving food and we could talk about food preparation? As with the staff reading list, might we share some of our staff’s favorite 30 minute meal recipes?

These are ways for you to connect what the Affinity Categories data tells you to the content you will produce for your online presence. The excellent practice for that is to craft the content, find or produce appropriate images and post them onto your website. You can then share them multiple times on social media, via your enewsletter and even reference them at in-person events.

Get informed about the interests of your community

If your website does not have Google Analytics or a similar program, talk to the folks who built your website, or ask nonprofit website experts how to get those working. Give it time to collect some data, then (in Google Analytics) look under Audience, then Interests to find Affinity Categories. Review the top 10-20 interests and see what ideas they give you for content. Look under Demographics to see what age groups and gender groups your community self-identifies. Book lovers that are Millennials might be interested in different topics than Baby Boomers who are book lovers, so give some thought to what is appropriate for different groups. Try experiments, measure the engagement you get and let that guide you to what you produce.

The more appropriate to your audience’s interests your content is, the more success you will have engaging and growing your online audience. A larger audience, treated correctly, will mean a larger email list, more social media followers and hopefully more donors to support the work of your nonprofit’s mission.

]]>http://johnkenyon.org/get-the-inside-scoop-on-what-topics-interest-your-nonprofit-website-visitors/feed/0608The Best Nonprofit Online Strategies are Data-Informedhttp://johnkenyon.org/the-best-nonprofit-online-strategies-are-data-informed/
http://johnkenyon.org/the-best-nonprofit-online-strategies-are-data-informed/#respondWed, 05 Sep 2018 16:00:38 +0000http://johnkenyon.org/?p=588Read more »]]>Want to improve the results you get from the effort you put into your online presence?

Flickr photo: Hakan Forss

Your nonprofit’s best online strategies are the ones informed by your data. Data not just on activity but also on what content is most popular across your website, emails and social media channels. You don’t have to be a data expert to have great data-informed online strategies!

Data is gold because it tells you what your community is interested in online, beyond what you want to communicate or actions you want to have folks take. Most nonprofits are able to talk about what they are interested in and what they are doing. The organizations that have the most success online are those that listen – they listen to their online community by looking at data.

Top Online Content

I’m not talking about esoteric or hidden data in the depths of Google Analytics, I’m talking about a handful of essential foundational pieces of data. While the number of website users, email subscribers and social media followers over time is worth tracking, I’m talking primarily about the most popular pieces of content across your online presence. What were the three most popular stories on your website over the last month? Most clicked-on links in your emails? What three pieces of social media content had the most engagement? Just those few data points can help steer you towards greater online success.

A content report doesn’t have to take more than 30 minutes a month to create. Once you know where to grab the data points on content in Google Analytics, your bulk email program and social media channels, it’s easy. Once you start sharing a monthly report, that helps give everyone an idea of what content resonates the most with your online community. For your content report, include the 3 top stories on the website by number of website users, the 3 links in emails with the most clicks, and the 3 top social media posts (I suggest tracking comments and shares, not likes).

Key Performance Indicators

The ideal partner to a Top Online Content report is a report on Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). KPI’s are the top data points you identify as most useful for understanding how well your online activities are driving desired actions. These could include the number of active website users per month, the number of email list subscribers, the average number of clicks on your enewsletter, the monthly average number of comments & shares on Facebook, the monthly average of retweets on Twitter, etc. You can choose what KPIs are important to you and your nonprofit.

Flickr photo: LeoL30

KPIs are the numbers you are going to track regularly. Think of it like the dashboard of a car – it tells you how fast you are going and how much gas you have. That is great information to follow over time to see if you are improving, declining or holding steady to your averages. Yet know that, like a car dashboard, a KPI report doesn’t tell you the right direction to travel – that is why it needs its partner, the Top Online Content report.

Start by deciding on limited number of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). For each KPI, identify the current baseline and then set a goal. If social media is currently sending 43 people to your website every month, set a goal to increase that to 50 per month within 6 months. Try different strategies to reach that goal and note which ones work and which don’t. Try different tactics around the strategies that work.

Establish a Habit

Establish a habit of gathering and sharing KPIs and what content is engaging your online community every month. Each month, share with interested staff (and board if appropriate) your Top Online Content and KPI reports. Include the 3 top stories on the website by number of visitors, the 3 links in emails with the most clicks, and the 3 top social media posts (comments and shares, not likes).

Establish and maintain the habit of gathering the top online data each month – just put an appointment in your calendar each month. Once you get the first one done, the other ones will be easy and take little time.

Flickr photo: Daniel Oines

Once every quarter or every few months, sit down with a colleague and review the data – what worked? What did we think would work and didn’t? What types of content are popular and can that guide us as we create new content moving forward? This is where part of the data-informed magic comes, using the data from your community to plan how you will use your precious time to create more content your community will love.

Done well, being data-informed leads to growing your following on social media channels, growing your email list and increasing visits to your website, all of which can lead to improved results with advocacy, events and fundraising!

Example Reports

To help you get started, you can click on these two example reports. All data is for example purposes only and may not reflect your results. Both are Word documents and will download when you click the links.

I hope you find these helpful and I wish you the best with your nonprofit’s online presence!

]]>http://johnkenyon.org/the-best-nonprofit-online-strategies-are-data-informed/feed/0588Nonprofit Technology Planning for Disasters (and Turnover)http://johnkenyon.org/nonprofit-technology-planning-for-turnover-and-disasters/
http://johnkenyon.org/nonprofit-technology-planning-for-turnover-and-disasters/#respondSun, 02 Sep 2018 04:20:49 +0000http://johnkenyon.org/?p=350Read more »]]>Every year we face natural disasters from fires to hurricanes to earthquakes to tornadoes and flooding. We never know when disaster may strike. Technology can help a nonprofit recover faster when it is thoughtfully used.

A nonprofit without a disaster recovery plan may suffer permanent data losses and can struggle for weeks to reconstruct the systems, data, and networks that keep an organization running smoothly. You can recover quickly when you have a thoughtful plan.

Turnover & Disaster Planning similarities

While thankfully disasters are not a daily occurrence, turnover does happen in nonprofits everyday. Being prepared for employee turnover isn’t so different from being prepared for disaster recovery when it comes to technology.

Be prepared for turnover by having a plan that lists all of the actions needed when turnover happens – from changing permissions to access accounts to ensuring you have all data and files created by the employee to collecting any devices owned by the organization. A good checklist prepares you to deal effectively with turnover and not miss any important step. The same goes for disaster plans, a solid checklist is your best friend when disaster strikes.

Follow the “rule of three” – make sure at least 3 people know how to do essential tasks. These include troubleshooting IT issues and knowing who to call; the ability to log in to all major software systems weather hosted internally or online; the ability to update the website, social media channels and send emails. Never let the login information for any essential system rest with one person.

Identify the top 10 crucial IT duties and cross-train staff regularly so they are easily able to execute those crucial duties during transitions, vacations, illness and other absences

Transition Plan

When dealing with an employee transition, a checklist is helpful in remembering to do everything required legally and logically during an employee transition. Include IT items such as resetting passwords, changing login permissions and other security settings, collecting any hardware or mobile devices, ensuring access to all systems, clearing out or organizing documents for easy access and removing names from accounts.

Disaster Plan

What if you arrived at your workplace tomorrow and it was gone? Or what if a disgruntled employee leaves with all of their files and even their computer? How will you recover? A good disaster plan covers both of these scenarios. Both rely on good documentation (see above) and a solid backup of all organizational data. In both scenarios a prepared organization can go out and purchase new hardware, access their data and files either online or after restoring from a backup and begin to work again. An unprepared organization can spend months trying to access the systems they are locked out of, re-create old files, re-enter financial and other data, rebuild databases just to get back to where they were before the disaster.

Summary

Organizations who prepare for transitions and disasters save time, resources and aggravation. Some even prevent legal headaches that can occur when employees leave and laws are not followed correctly. Prepared nonprofits have a plan for dealing with turnover that is aligned with their plan for dealing with disasters. Those plans give you a list of activities to follow when there is a departure or a disaster which makes those difficult transitions much easier to navigate.

Problem: Dirty Data = Lost Dollars & Relationships

Lean staffed nonprofits often have dirty data and even large well staffed nonprofits often have hidden dirty data. There is rarely a big enough fire to make us carve out the time to build the daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly processes and habits that clean data up and keep it clean. This is because the cost of Dirty Data is often hidden. Here are 3 among the many types of examples of Lost Dollars and Relationships driven by Dirty Data:

1) Contact info changes but is not updated in the system => communication stops & dollars stop

Example: Donor loves our organization but we only had her old work email address and when that changes, we lose touch with her, costing us a lifetime of giving. The new email address is known by a board member who is a good friend of the donor. No one thought to ask her for the update even though she attended a dinner for the nonprofit at the board member’s house. Bye bye long term donor.

Example: A donor family received 3 of the exact same mail pieces, including one to their small child – all to the same address. This leaves the family feeling our nonprofit isn’t well run. Bye bye loyal donor family.

Example: a donor that is duplicated in donor management system receives an $25 dollar direct mail appeal before the major gift appeal call for the donor record showing $50k in giving. Donor makes a small gift instead of a large gift and allocates balance to other orgs. Bye Bye large end of year gift.

3) Donor info & follow up steps are lost during board/staff transitions => large gifts are not closed/received or are greatly delayed

How to get started: Do a short self-assessment and schedule a donor data cleanup and donor love day. Involve key staff around your key donors, sustainers, funders, and prospects and dig in. Even if you only clean up the data & follow ups around your top 20 donors, funders, and prospects this will pay dividends well beyond the cost of the time!

Request a draft agenda for a self-service data cleanup and donor love day by sending Mathew an email here.

Hello Donor Love (& $’s) !

Collaborator: Terry Handler

]]>http://johnkenyon.org/bye-bye-dirty-data-hello-donor-love-s/feed/0549Your Nonprofit is Being Hacked Right Nowhttp://johnkenyon.org/your-nonprofit-is-being-hacked-right-now/
http://johnkenyon.org/your-nonprofit-is-being-hacked-right-now/#commentsMon, 06 Nov 2017 17:35:14 +0000http://johnkenyon.org/?p=415Read more »]]>Regardless of size or assets, your nonprofit is either being hacked right now or an attempt is being made to hack it. Attacks aimed at taking over networked systems, gathering data or both are a constant reality.

If your organization has a website, a computer, a phone or tablet connected to the internet, you are vulnerable. Your technology systems are under attack daily at a minimum. The attackers are looking for any weakness that can be exploited and they don’t care who you are. In under 2 years, software that helps to protect my website has blocked 66,091 malicious login attempts.

Cyber Reality

For a long time, nonprofits have believed they are not a target for being hacked because they are too small, have too few assets or too little data. That reasoning assumes that a human is involved, making choices about who is a good target. Today, it is pieces of software, robots or “bots” that do the work. They spend every second of every day searching for any vulnerabilities to exploit. These robots don’t care if you are a nonprofit or how much money or data you have, their only task is to try breaking into your systems. Any data is valuable, any access is able to be exploited for some type of gain.

Criminals who make money from spam gladly pay for any valid email address, they don’t care where it’s from. Others who make money from scams can break into your website – since many folks don’t update their website software regularly. Once the have broken into your website, they can get names and passwords that they can use to break into your email server. They can then pretend to be anyone – including your Executive Director or Director of Finance and send fake invoices or requests for money to all of your vendors, partners, even your donors. Disgruntled employees who want to strike out may not even be looking for financial gain but with a few well placed disruptions to an unprotected network, they can bring your entire organization to it’s knees in hours. Recovery can take weeks as you try to recover data, rebuild networks, replace equipment and repair lost confidence.

I see many nonprofits in denial that they are the targets of hackers and then I see them paying a huge price when their systems are compromised. Every week I hear from a new nonprofit dealing with disaster from being hacked. Recent news of large organizations being held hostage by ransom ware that requires organizations to pay a ransom to get access to their data is just the tip of the iceberg. If large companies like Sony and Fedex, who spend millions on cybersecurity are vulnerable, how can you think you are secure if you have not done an audit and put protections in place? Regrettably, most nonprofits have limited cyber security measures in place.

Its Happening Already

A San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit was recently hacked by an ex-employee. This is a medium sized organization, approximately two million dollar budget and eight staff. Their systems were compromised and all of their servers hard to be taken offline. No email, no file access, no database access, no website access. For almost two weeks. Think about the impact it would have on your organization to shut down for two weeks.

The nonprofit’s entire technology system had to be taken off line and rebuilt from the ground up. Every part of the network was compromised and had to be repaired or replaced. This meant rebuilding the network, the database server, the file server, the email server, re-configuring the internet access, changing all of the usernames and passwords for everything, setting up new password requirements to force them to be changed more often. While all of this was happening, practically no work could be done by anyone in the organization. Thousands of dollars in revenue were lost from programs that couldn’t run. Many thousands were spent on new equipment, cybersecurity experts, lawyers, and cybersecurity insurance. Thousands more dollars were lost in staff time while staff spent several weeks trying to rebuild all of their systems, just to bring things back to the way they were the day before the attack started. It’s estimated that they spent over $40,000 on repairs and had $65,000 in lost revenue during the attack and recovery phases. The legal costs will continue.

This is real threat, it is happening every day, and a good defense is the best protection.

Cyber Defense

The best cyber-defense is a cyber-offense. While no system is perfectly secure, there is a lot that even smaller nonprofits can do to greatly reduce the risk of being impacted by being hacked. Buying Cybersecurity insurance can be expensive and is not always needed by smaller organizations, depending on their data and security needs. Talk to your technology provider about what they are doing to protect you. Educate staff or hire someone who is educated on the subject. Cindy Leonard has a good list of posts on the topic on her blog here.

Prevention is much less expensive than repairing damage. Nonprofit technology professionals like myself and others can guide your organization through a security audit to assess where you are most vulnerable. An audit provides the knowledge needed to create thoughtful action plans that improve cybersecurity. Depending on the size and complexity of your organization, audits can range from $6,000 for a small nonprofit to $100,000 and up for the largest organizations.

A good audit will begin with staff working with a consultant to assess all of your current security practices and needs. From that audit, recommendations to improve security in many areas of your operations will emerge. Beyond tools to monitor your systems and to help secure your networks, policies and procedures are an important part of keeping your organization as secure as possible.

Training employees on excellent security practices and ensuring those practices are followed is one of the most important parts of a security plan. Look for a cybersecurity audit plan that includes the follow up work necessary to make sure the needed changes become ingrained into your culture. Only the correct alignment of people and technology can ensure the best possible protection of your organization and its data.

]]>http://johnkenyon.org/your-nonprofit-is-being-hacked-right-now/feed/2415Lessons from a Successful Nonprofit Collaborative Technology Projecthttp://johnkenyon.org/lessons-from-a-successful-nonprofit-collaborative-technology-project/
http://johnkenyon.org/lessons-from-a-successful-nonprofit-collaborative-technology-project/#commentsMon, 26 Jun 2017 22:45:00 +0000http://johnkenyon.org/?p=308Read more »]]>I spent 5 years working with 4 nonprofits on a collaborative technology project. Below I share the lessons we learned, the challenges and the benefits of having nonprofits collaborating on a technology project.

This was the project the developed the SafeChat Silicon Valley crisis counseling service. It involved four domestic violence service providers near San Jose, California. First came a feasibility study (VERY IMPORTANT!), done by myself and Organizational Development consultant Beth Schecter to determine if the organizations could work together and which project best suited the group. The organizations decided on creating the first collaborative online & mobile chat crisis counseling service in the United States. SafeChat has since successfully launched and is being used to support survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence. See my posting about the project: Digital Crisis Counseling – Technology Meets the Hotline

Lessons we learned from this multi-year technology effort:

Rising Tide – In this case, the “rising tide that lifts all boats” was engaging with technology. To participate in the project and use the technology tools it required, all of the agencies needed to upgrade their hardware and software as well as increase their skills with technology. By being engaged with the project and hearing what others were learning and doing, each agency reported increased confidence and skill in the use of technology as the project progressed.

Timing – Naturally, meetings take longer as there are many more voices at the table and factors to consider when working collaboratively. Each organization has its unique cultural norms, history, assets, weaknesses, programs, people, politics, leadership, networks, etc. For our project this meant meeting for several hours every two weeks. We used half of the meetings for full group discussions and half of it for small group work, to allow people dedicated time and space for working on the project that they might not otherwise have in their often hectic jobs.

Learning – Because we had everyone share what was working or not working for them, they each benefited from learning about others experience. The learning had not only to do with technology but with others aspects of collaboration, project work and relationships. People shared strategies for overcoming resistance from leadership or other staff. They share why a particular strategy or tactic did or did not work well for them. They learned how to deal with vendors and with website developers. They learned many new terms and phrases they didn’t know before. Being in community helped them share and gain knowledge in ways usually not possible in a cross-organizational way.

Capability Building – Having people do things they have never done before built their confidence and capabilities which also transferred into their organization. Skills and knowledge gained through being stretched in their project roles built stronger leaders, more confident project managers and better trainers. We included the whole group in discussions on software selection, hardware requirements, website development, online privacy, marketing and many other topics that allowed people to participate at their level and learn from discussions at the same time.

Resources – Having the assets of four organizations to draw on provides a larger pool of resources. This includes many types of resources from talents to skills to contacts to even physical assets. One was able to usually provide the meeting space, one was able to have their website design person give us some hours, one was able to have all of the printing done for marketing materials. Through contacts, they were featured on major market television news.

Impact – The organizations are now able to do together what they cannot do alone. No single one of these agencies could have accomplished alone what was done together. When working collaboratively, nonprofits can set their technology sights even higher than they can alone and have more of an impact on their sector.

Nonprofit technology collaborations can be successful if they are properly vetted, thoughtfully planned, funded appropriately and given the time required to create great things!

]]>http://johnkenyon.org/lessons-from-a-successful-nonprofit-collaborative-technology-project/feed/1308Facilitation Methods for Traininghttp://johnkenyon.org/facilitation-methods-for-training/
http://johnkenyon.org/facilitation-methods-for-training/#respondFri, 24 Mar 2017 12:20:22 +0000http://johnkenyon.org/?p=295Read more »]]>I created this handout on Facilitation Methods to highlight some of the most popular techniques, along with a brief explanation of each method. A key to using these successfully is matching the method to your goal for that part of your training – are you looking to get folks to share their knowledge on a topic or brainstorm ideas or come to an agreement? Different methods serve different goals, so give some thought to which method best serves your goals. Practice and experiment with the methods to increase your proficiency and learn about what works.

Also included below is the slide deck from the Nonprofit Technology Conference session Supercharge Your Technology Training, where the handout was used.

]]>http://johnkenyon.org/facilitation-methods-for-training/feed/0295Nonprofit Storytelling, Online Engagement and Measuring Successhttp://johnkenyon.org/nonprofit-storytelling-online-engagement-and-measuring-success/
http://johnkenyon.org/nonprofit-storytelling-online-engagement-and-measuring-success/#respondMon, 06 Mar 2017 22:45:18 +0000http://johnkenyon.org/?p=186Read more »]]>I crafted and presented a workshop for the grantees of the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment recently on Storytelling, Engagement and Measuring Success. Attendees were from mostly grassroots organizations, many working in rural areas and most with very limited resources. I chose to cover these topics together because in over 25 years of helping nonprofits communicate well and use technology intelligently, I’ve seen the power of coordinating these three elements.

While preparing for the workshop, I looked over the websites and social media presence of many of the attendees. I could see the great work they were doing but I wasn’t finding many personal stories. People relate to people more than organizations. Fundraising campaigns that use stories raise more than campaigns that use facts – stories even raise more than when the facts are mixed with stories. I shared these findings and the many opportunities I saw for personal storytelling – by people who are docents, stewards, board members, staff, volunteers, donors and advocates. So many great stories are within even the smallest nonprofits just waiting to be told. But stories in isolation are not enough.

Stories matched with specific engagement objectives and strategies are far more effective than stories alone. Spelling out specific objectives aligned with an organization’s strategic goals, then using stories and engagement strategies, is the most powerful approach. Knowing your fundraising goals, advocacy goals, membership or any other goals, keeps your efforts focused on outcomes. When you know what your goals are, you are crafting stories with a purpose and with a goal in mind.

Measuring success is looking at your progress towards those goals. Are people actually engaging with our content? Are the taking the actions we’d like to see them take? Which strategies are working and which can we stop doing if they don’t produce results. Keeping an eye on our progress towards our communication goals helps refine not only our engagement strategies but our storytellling. It is a cycle of Try-Measure-Reflect-Learn-Improve.

Creating this learning loop is the practice that ensures continual improvement. It is the key to improving the communication strategies, tactics and results used by your nonprofit.

]]>http://johnkenyon.org/nonprofit-storytelling-online-engagement-and-measuring-success/feed/0186Technology Educator & Strategist – What Is That?http://johnkenyon.org/technology-educator-strategist-what-is-that/
http://johnkenyon.org/technology-educator-strategist-what-is-that/#respondFri, 27 Jan 2017 17:37:56 +0000http://johnkenyon.org/?p=216Read more »]]>Here are six examples of the types of projects I work on as a Nonprofit Technology Educator and Strategist.

I work with all types and sizes of nonprofits, primarily in the areas of technology and communications, providing consulting support as well as training services.

ACLU of Southern California – Digital StrategyIn collaboration with Oakwood Digital’s Michael Stein, worked with the Communications Director to create a digital strategy plan to guide communications through the newly revised website and other digital channels. Included measurable objectives based on our research of the current digital goals, engagement, staff interviews and digital analytics.www.aclusocal.org

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur – Online Presence Planning & Execution

I’m advising the Development & Communication’s department to create and execute on their strategic communications plan. This includes advice about multimedia content, email, social media, website, online fundraising and using data across all of their digital platforms to improve outcomes. www.snddenca.org

Y&H Soda Foundation – Grantee Communication Planning

Working with the foundation’s program officers, I created an educational curriculum and consulting support plan to help these small community organizing organizations create strategic plans for technology and communications. These plans help focus their limited resources and the process builds knowledge and skills in those areas at the same time. I educated 10 community organizing foundation grantees on excellent communications & technology practices, counseled them on creating strategic communication & technology plans, then provided consulting support on plan execution and using data to measure success. I also supported the foundation with their own website revision including vetting vendors and providing project management for them. www.yhsodafoundation.org

NetSuite – Social Impact Grantee Assessment

NetSuite donates their powerful financial and other software tools to qualified nonprofits and social impact organizations. Working with the Social Impact team, I provided expertise about how technology is used in nonprofits to help assess which organizations were able to be successful with the donated tools. I reviewed data from grantees and provided sector best practices to create a framework for assessing applicants. I created an assessment tool to measure the impact of the donation on the organizations’ ability to make social impact. www.netsuite.org

Parent Center Network – Technology Planning

Every state has a center, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education, to support the families of children with disabilities. I have worked with this national network of parent centers to create and execute a technology planning process for centers to follow. Working with a team lead by the PEAK Parent Center in Colorado, I created educational materials, work plans, road maps and resources to ensure successful completion of the planning process and support execution of the plans. All project goals were met and the plans continue to be in use well after the project’s completion. Peak Parent Center, funded in part by U.S. Dept of Education, OSEP